What is the worst part about being a BJD collector/owner?

I thought of a better one, because of what Lulu Rose said. Even more annoying than finding appropriate, well-fitted clothes like I mentioned earlier.

Planning a look for a doll... Which turns out not to be working.
Most dolls are extremely versatile, but every once in a while you encounter a doll with a will of it's own, that just won't accept the look you thought out for him/her.
For instance, you really want your new doll to have blue eyes and blonde hair. But when the doll wears those, it just doesn't seem right. It seems fake, even though the eyes and wig are of excellent quality. Then when you pop in brown eyes and red hair, everything looks great on her. But that's not what you actually wanted.
I have one doll like that. Even someone who has never seen her before and doesn't know what's she supposed to look like, says she looks odd when I introduce her, wearing a wig and eyes other than her usual ones.

 

For me, the only down side is the bending involved with photography. XD;;;

 

- Availability of resources (stock items, time, money, etc)
- End-result satisfaction (completion woes, bonding issues, no nearby collectors, etc)
- Appearances (justifying costs, dealing with criticism, etc)

 

Not enough space to display them!

 

One problem I have... though I suppose it's the happy kind... is deciding which one of the crew I want to take with me on our vacation trip down to Rainier this year.

I always take one of the gang with me, since the mountain is a great photography spot. But ONLY one.

That means I can't take any of the paired dolls (I'd want to take their partner along too in that case, and two dolls would be a pain to keep up with-)... But even JUST looking at the solos, I still have way too many choices.

I have exactly a week to make a decision, here, and they're not making it easy. <_<

 

The dolls themselves and the collecting thereof aren't really a problem aside from the obvious / supply (of funds) does not equal demand (so many that I'd love to get!).

The one thing about "being a collector" that bothers me is watching the junior high-level angstfests and petty power struggles that go on both here and in the lovely anonymous world of other places where you can get just as stupid as you wish over other people's dolls and nobody knows who it is. (Except that we do, but that's another issue entirely).

[My apologies for potentially offending the many very mature and polite junior-high age people I've met here. The people in my mind as I typed that are much older than you with about a third of your class.]

 

The cycle of materialism we can easily get trapped in.

Always there's something new and shiny coming out and sometimes you only stay in case you'd miss out.

I wish there could be a doll that can stay one day. Then my place would stop being just a dolly hotel lol.

 

When people go into touchy-feely mode and try to touch your doll's faceup! I understand that to them, it's just a doll, but I wish they would have some respect for the doll's personal space.

I've actually gotten a few dirty looks for slapping peoples' hands away from my doll when they're about to touch her face. It's a developed reflex, I guess. XD

 

-Trying to explain to people to be careful with my dolls when they want to touch them. I'm a very sensitive person about everything, electronics, dolls, pretty much expensive things, because I can't JUST get a new one.
-Buying a doll and realizing she's/he's just not the size I wanted
-The price for clothes and accesories. I have no problem with the price of the clothing itself, but when I put a wig, a set of clothes, and some shoes in the shopping baskets, it's at least 70 bucks, and I could spend them on things I actually need /: And I end up buying nothing
-Always finding something new I want. If it's not one thing, it's the other thing, and I'm constantly looking for new dolls and trinkets

I think that's about it...

 

Not enough Money.
Getting stared at from Strangers.
Never feeling finished with a character/doll.

 

As many many people have said, MONEY MONEY MONEY. There's not enough of it to afford each doll I like/want and barely enough to cover other things.

People are also very judgey over dolls (this actually can apply to many hobbies). For instance I'm being constantly criticised right now because of how expensive the dolls are (most of the ones I want are $500+). Plus, living in NZ makes it worse since people here tend to be small minded at the best of times and if you do something "strange" (to them) like collecting dolls (especially when you already have a history of "strangeness") you're forever labled a freak.

I also hate the currency conversion rates. The currency here is getting weaker (or every other currency is getting stronger) and that means it can cost me way more than I assume, for example a $600 US doll is $735 NZ and I just don't have that kind of money for anything right now. Even one of the more affordable dolls is still much more over here. Then there's shipping on top of that.

The last one is both good and bad...
Having far too many ideas for dolls and constantly evolving the story and dolls within it until there's just no way you can ever get it totally covered. It's nice that the story and characters are filling out and everything but how does my brain expect my wallet to keep up?

 

I get more and more miffed with the community the more deeply involved I get with it. :\ I deeply regret meeting some of the people I've met in the few months since I got involved with BJDs, but... well, I've met good people too.

 

Not enough money and place for all the dolls I want T_T

 

The worst part of the doll hobby...hmmm. I think it's a general lack of understanding from other people? Not that I care about the general populace, but family members and friends outside of the BJD hobby.

 

Oh definitely the cost and the desire to have more clothing than you really need....

 

The cost of buying them and actually finishing the look of the doll when already in possession. TmT I have too many things piled up. I'm tackling them one by one now so I could have time for my dolls.

 

Money is always #1, so like many collectors here, I've come to accept the costs. It is a huge part of the hobby anyways, no way around it hahaha.

Other parts would be the wait time (especially the ones where the estimate shipping date(s) continue to get push back due to this or that problem) and finding out clothes/wigs/shoes don't fit after you closely questioned the seller/company of all the measurements to see if everything will fit before making the purchase.

All in all when you finally get your doll and items and everything fits just fine, it's worth everything, time and money.

 

At the moment? I just found out Leekeworld discontinued it's basic dolls. I put off buying a Lani (she was going to be my boy's little sister, Anna) because I wanted to wait until my birthday (I usually get quite a bit of gift money)... and now she's gone... I'm gonna have to buy her second hand... probably for more than $170+shipping she was priced out. Now I'm seriously bummed.... she had the prettiest long legs...

 

Never feeling satisfied with my collection. There is a feeling that I must buy more. Some times i feel like quitting collecting all in all because of this feeling. There is always going to be the doll that I'll never be able to own. That in my head I would think if I had that doll I know I would need no other. For me that doll is dollfie Rise. I tried to win here in both the lotteries and lost.Now every time I see pictures of her I feel bitter and envious towards those people who own here.
another I hate is selling to people because some people would complain about prices and others will get into arguments about the smallest details. I understand buying a doll is expensive and shipping is a killer but don't take out that fuststarion out on me. The price is what it is. And normally they would try to fight publicly which makes the seller look terrible. If you have a problem with the price don't buy it. Please don't post your views on the actual sellers post.

 

The costs, and the waiting...